


Don't Clock Out On Me

by HamishHolmes



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Hospitals, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-06
Updated: 2013-10-06
Packaged: 2017-12-28 14:29:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/992975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HamishHolmes/pseuds/HamishHolmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabe and Sam are best friends (though both privately want more). But one day, Gabe's brother Cas is hospitalised and Gabe's world changes forever.</p><p>ABANDONED!! (For now)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Clock Out On Me

Sam glanced at the clock again. It hadn't changed. The second hand ticked round as slowly as physically possible. He twiddled his pen absentmindedly between his fingers, wondering just how much longer the lesson could last. He was dreaming about what he was going to do that weekend and his eyes lost focus.

"Mr Winchester?" asked the Professor, startling him out of his reverie.

"Yes, Professor?" he asked, his face automatically drifted into an innocent expression.

"I was wondering if you could tell me exactly when the Age Discrimination Act cam into effect and what it says," said the Professor, a mocking smile on his lips.

"Of course, sir. It came into effect in 1975, eight years after the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. It prohibits discrimination based on age in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance, for instance, financial assistance to schools and colleges, provided by U.S. Department of Education." Said Sam, automatically finding the information he required from the textbook he had memorised. 

The Professor looked very annoyed that he hadn't caught Sam out, but he still couldn't fault his answer. He readied himself to ask another, more challenging question, but then the bell rang for the end of the period and Sam hurried away with the rest of the class, eager to escape the grasp of his  
law teacher and eager to see his brother.

He was also eager to see someone else, though he wouldn't admit it to himself.

He brushed past the other students in the hallway and made it out onto the street in the first wave of people happy to be leaving lectures behind for another week. He knew that Dean would be out later, because he always stayed back to try and chat up his engineering teacher. Sam couldn't deny that she was hot, though she wasn't his type.

He sat down on a bench, pulling his backpack onto his lap and pulling his well-thumbed copy of 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' and began to re-read it again. He had just got to his favourite quote when someone plonked themselves down next to him.

"Hey, Sasquatch, you reading that again?" asked Gabe, rolling his eyes and taking a swing of his Pepsi Max.

"Of course," said Sam, a tiny smile gracing his lips, "it's very good. You should read it sometime."

"I can't focus for that length of time Sammy, and you know it." said Gabriel, proving his point by jumping from the seat he had only taken a moment ago to pluck the book from Sam's hands. He skipped and danced away, holding the book in front of him.

'"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" "You ask a glass of water."' He read aloud, "I find being drunk a very pleasant feeling indeed."

He gave the book back to Sam, being careful not to lose the taller boy's page. Sam's smile grew, noticing what the other boy had done and appreciating it.

"You've never been drunk in your life," said Sam, sliding his bookmark back in and putting the book away.

"A man can dream," smiled Gabe and sat back down.

"Yeah, but even your imagination isn't that strong," Sam said, his voice seeming louder in the emptying yard.

"My imagination is perfect," said Gabe with a wink, "and the things I've imagined doing with you ..."

Sam rolled his eyes and blushed a little, but inside, he actually wanted to know what Gabriel wanted to do with him.

Just then, Dean came out from the building behind them and wandered over to meet his brother. His hair was tousled and his shirt wasn't quite buttoned up right.

"Dean, I can't believe you scored with your teacher!" admonished Sam, "you're so weird."

"You're just jealous that I'm getting laid," grinned Dean, helping his brother to his feet, "you coming to ours?" This last was addressed to Gabe, who nodded amiably and slung his bag over his shoulder.

The three of them headed out in the autumn air towards the flat that the brothers shared. It was a couple of blocks away and the trio chatted aimlessly about college, about what they should have for dinner and, much to Sam's embarrassment, about how Dean's time with 'Anna' had gone. Sam listened mortified as Gabe quizzed his brother on positions for an entire block, before putting an end to it by saying that he was going into W H Smiths for another notepad.

When he came out, the others had moved on to a safer topic and he joined in enthusiastically, so before they knew it, they were staring up at the drab apartment block that the boys called home. They took the lift to the fifth floor because even Sam couldn't face that man blocks of stairs on a Friday evening.

Ever since Sam had first met Gabriel in the college library, where the shorter man was eating chocolate behind a reference book that concealed a comic, Gabe had gone home with the Winchesters on a Friday. The first time Sam offered and since then it had become a sort of unspoken knowledge that Friday night meant the three of them hanging out together. With Dean only working mornings at the garage and Friday being both Sam and Gabe’s day off, they automatically slipped into the casual routine.

Sam unlocked the door and stepped through, stooping to pick up the post as he did. He did a quick scan: two junk letters, one letter from Bobby, a postcard from Garth and a reminder that the rent was due. He dumped the whole pile onto the table and threw his bag onto the floor by the couch.  
"What's it gonna be then?" asked Gabriel, sitting next to Sam and holding out the sheaf of takeaway menus that he'd pulled from the drawer.

They all spent as little money as possible during the week and so when it came to Friday they usually had enough to get takeaway, and when they didn't, Gabe liked to try and make a good meal out of the contents of the Winchesters' fridge. Surprisingly, he usually managed.

"Well ... last week we had Indian," said Sam, removing that leaflet and placing on the table next to the post.

"I'm not in the mood for Pizza," called Dean from the kitchen, where he was getting three bottles of beer.

"How about Mexican then?" asked Gabe, holding out the leaflet to Sam.

They chorused their agreement and a couple of minutes later they were on their way to pick up their standard order. The Mexican place was only two doors down, but they took their time in getting there by stopping at the bench outside their block of flats to 'rest'. When they arrived, their order was already on the desk waiting for them. They handed over their pooled money and let again, racing to get the food back to the apartment whilst it was still hot.

"Blazing Saddles?" asked Dean, pulling the DVD off the rack and sliding it into the player.

"Don't wait for our reply; it's fine," said Gabe, sarcastically, but they all knew that none of them could refuse the choice.

They sat on the sofa, bowls of Mexican food in their laps and a hilarious western-comedy n the telly. Gabriel sat in the middle, his feet pushed against Sam's legs. When he finished his meal, he changed positions. He laid his head against Sam's shoulder lightly and watched the TV with the easy feel of someone who has seen the movie a million times, but is prepared to make it a million and one.

Dean watched as Gabe rearranged himself against Sam. He smiled a little, then turned his attention back to the movie. People had always said that Dean was oblivious to love when it slapped him in the face with a wet fish. He thought that was the phrase Sam had used last time anyway. But Dean had learned the hard way that he couldn't rely on anyone but his brother. He hoped Sam and Gabe would realise what was going on soon, because it was driving Dean mad. For that moment though, with his brother, his friend and one of his favourite westerns he couldn't think of anywhere he'd rather be.  
When blazing saddles finished, Dean put a new DVD in (The Boat That Rocked) and Sam got glasses of water, because they were out of beer and couldn't afford any more, and Gabriel put away the takeaway stuff and got a bowl of popcorn to share. They moved with the ease of people who had done the same tasks a thousand times and who were content to move at a lazy pace because they had nowhere else to be.

They repeated this ritual until a movie lasted past midnight and then they went to bed. Gabe had the sofa bed and the boys shared a twin room. They said their good nights and went to bed falling almost instantly asleep.

Except Gabriel.

He couldn't shift the feeling that had arrived halfway through A Series of Unfortunate Events. Something was wrong. He knew it. It wasn't here; he'd just spent an evening with the guy he harboured a secret crush on and one of his best friends in the universe. But something was definitely odd. Eventually, he drifted into a half sleep full of weird twisting dreams and images that he forgot as they slipped past his eyes.

He woke after a mere four hours sleep, roused by the smell of Sam's pancakes. The scent drifted through from the kitchen and Gabe lay there for a minute watching Sam's back muscles rippling as he flipped pancakes. Then he sat up and wandered through to the bathroom. 

Sam watched him go from the corner of his eye. Gabe's hair was all ruffled up around his head and it looked like a soft halo in the morning light. Sam wished that Gabriel could want to be more to him than a friend, but he knew that all the casual touches were just his way. Right? Sam didn't really dwell on these thoughts, not wanting to be upset after such a perfect night.

 

In an apartment not far away, the phone rang. It's shrill call echoed through the empty flat. After a few minutes, it gave up fighting the losing battle and went to answer phone.

_Mr Milton, we need you to contact us immediately. We need to talk to you in regards to something dreadful that has happened. Please call us on 04529 577304 to organise a meeting._

The message ended with a soft beep.

 

When Gabriel had finished the pancakes, he slipped into the clothes he kept at the Winchester’s and headed off to work. When he arrived, he took up his post in the kitchen of the small bakery. He dreamed of one day owning his own bakery, but for now, he was content to work for the slightly crazy Balthazar.

Balthazar himself entered the shop a couple of minutes after Gabriel. 

“Hey, Gabriel, a call came through for you this morning,” said Balthazar, “apparently, they called home as well. I told them you’d call when you got in.”

Balthazar handed him a slip of paper with a number scrawled across it in Balthazar’s familiar hand. He watched as Gabe called the number from the bakery phone and wondered if it was worth reminding him that if he took too long he’d be losing pay. But the look on Gabriel’s face told him not to push it.

“Hello? … It’s Gabriel Milton … I see … No, that can’t be right. … Okay … I’ll be there in five minutes … thanks.” Gabriel hung up and turned to Balthazar who was ready to tell him he couldn’t just leave in the middle of work hours, but seeing Gabe’s face streaked with tears he just nodded. Gabe pulled him in for a brief crushing hug. “Thank You.”

As Gabe ran, he pulled out his mobile phone and turned it on. One missed call. Damn it! He dialled the familiar number.

“Hey, Gabe, you left your study notes here,” said Sam, picking up.

“Thanks for telling me,” said Gabriel, keeping it light and normal.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Not quite so light after all then.

“I – It’s my brother, Cas. He …” Gabe broke off into sobs and he could _hear_ the worry in Sam’s voice, “he’s been hospitalised.”

“Gabe, I’m so sorry,” said Sam, genuine concern ringing through his voice.

“Are, are you busy?” asked Gabriel, slowing to a walk.

“No, which hospital are you going to?” asked Sam, correctly guessing the real question.

“Central.” Was the only word Gabriel could say before more tears coursed down his cheeks and he had to move the receiver from his ear.

“I’m on my way,” Sam said and put down the phone.

“DEAN! Can I borrow the Impala?” asked Sam, racing into the bedroom.

“Why?” said Dean, not wanting to give his baby to his brother without good reason.

“Gabe’s brother is in hospital and Gabe wants me there with him,” Dean still hesitated though he knew how much Gabe meant to Sam, “if you don’t give me the keys I will hot wire your car and take it anyway. Please. PLEASE!”

The desperation was loud and clear in Sam’s voice and Dean threw him the keys. “Not a scratch!”


End file.
